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Right, but somebody has to maintain those IT systems, and if the government is anything like other huge, data-hoarding corporations, then they deploy sysadmins

Right, but somebody has to maintain those IT systems, and if the government is anything like other huge, data-hoarding corporations, then they deploy sysadmins who have an incredible amount of access because they have to in order to maintain the system. IT systems do not run themselves.

PaulRobinson 3y ago
Why do you need IT systems for a program that has allegedly been running covertly since a decade before Bletchley Park started building Colossus? Let’s just presume that the people running this are recruited both for their competence and their ability to keep a secret. Would they immediately commission an IT team? NSA needs IT. It’s essential. These programs - if they exist - are all about avoiding recording anything or communicating anything other than face to face.
- Spooky23 3y ago
  In the Snowden case, why would you copy those records to SharePoint.
- LargeTomato 3y ago
  >Why do you need IT systems for a program that has allegedly been running covertly since a decade before Bletchley Park started building Colossus? I'm not sure I follow. You would almost certainly need IT. Just because the program (allegedly) dates back to 1930 doesn't mean it has no use for IT. The IRS dates back to before 1930 and it has IT.
  - PaulRobinson 3y ago
    The function of the IRS means it is more efficient to use IT than to not use IT. It is more efficient for a covert program of a few hundred (dozen?), people who have perfected their mechanisms over 90 years to not have IT.
foxyv 3y ago
With modern encryption, sysadmins should not have access to the data on the systems they maintain.